No more shaking hands
by eachofusangels
Summary: What if Castle had hugged Beckett at the end of the finale, instead of shaking her hand...


**No more shaking hands**

"I'm sorry, uh. You were, uh… You were telling me something?" He looks at her expectantly. "Yeah, I wanted to say… Have a great summer." She replies, not even sounding honest to herself. Castle seems to notice her change of thought but doesn't comment on it. "You too. A-and like you said: it's been really, really great." "Yeah… It has" she answers sadly nodding and looking into his eyes.

Castle awkwardly stretches out his hand to take Beckett's, when shaking his head slightly as if weighing his options and then going for a friendly hug instead. But while holding her close he hears her shaky intake of breath and loosens his hold on her in order to look at her face. He notices her eyes avoiding his and her breath coming out very slowly as if she were trying to calm herself. His brows furrow slightly thinking about what may be troubling her.

He steps back from her slightly, leaving one hand on her elbow and turns to Gina speaking calmly. "Uh, could you…maybe give us a minute?" Gina seems to have sensed where this conversation would be going but gives a short nod smiling a bit nervously. "Of course, take your time." she answers friendly, already feeling she has lost this battle.

Castle leads Beckett into the break room, closes the door and then turns to look at her. She keeps looking away though, still trying to regain her composure. When he takes a small step towards her she looks up at him nervously and takes a step back. She needs more space between them and turns, about to retreat to the other side of the room, when he gently touches her arm again. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asks gently, which resolves in all her attempts for calmness being in vain. He sees her eyes shimmering with tears while she keeps switching her gaze from his to the wall. Another shaky intake of breath and she opens her mouth to give an answer but can't go through with it without starting to cry, so she just shakes her head and averts her eyes to the floor.

Castle takes another step in her direction, but before she can retreat he moves his hand to hold hers and uses his other to gently brush a strand of hair behind her ear. He has a good feeling what all this is about but wants to hear it from her too. Trying to encourage her he speaks softly "You know, I'm going to miss you."

This is too much for Beckett and a sole tear silently escapes her eyes and runs down her cheek. She's still trying to keep herself together and shifts her gaze back to the wall. He brushes the tear away with his thumb and she looks at him quickly, only to avoid his eyes once again. "I'm going to miss you, too." she whispers, more tears falling from her eyes now. He takes her into his arms, hugging her closely while he feels her tears quietly falling onto his shirt.

After a few minutes she has regained some control over her emotions and has built up a wall between them. Freeing herself from his grip she takes a small step back and smiles slightly whispering "Thank you." He looks deeply into her eyes and recognizes what she is doing: she's escaping. And suddenly he realizes that this is not what he wants. This is absolutely not what he wants, so he speaks quietly, voicing a thought that had been ghosting in his mind since his decision had been made to take Gina to the Hamptons "What if I didn't go? What if I stayed here…with you?"

Beckett looks in his eyes and sees his sincerity. "That would be really, really great" she says, thinking of his words, when they were about to say good-bye, the same sincerity obvious in her voice. Then she smiles at him shyly and he grins down at her. "Yeah…It would" he answers happily and leans into her. Her smile slightly falters when she realizes what he is about to do, so she closes her eyes and waits for their first kiss.

His lips brush hers ever so lightly and she can't help but think that this must be the best first kiss ever. He steps up the pressure a bit, but keeping the kiss slow and sensual.

When he leans back slightly to look at her he sees her beaming at him and can't help the happy chuckle leaving his mouth.

Walking back into the hallway they find that Gina is no longer waiting for them. Beckett looks at him a bit unsure but he takes her hand and smiles at her, so they walk back to the others hand in hand, smiling.


End file.
